Beginning of Essay
It is comforting to know that, according to recent crime statistics, crime rates are dropping among adults. However, for teens the crime rate is soaring. Between 1990 and 1994, the rate at which adults age 25 and older committed homicides declined 22%; yet the r ....

Middle of Essay
.... about the violence of today's juveniles, claiming only about 0.5% of young people commit violent crimes. (³ Crime Time Bomb,² U.S. News & World Report, March 25, 1996) Current social trends do little to contradict the dire predictions made about youth crime rates. Nearly all the factors that contribute to youth crime -- single-parent households, child abuse, deteriorating inner-city schools -- are getting worse. At the same time, government is doing less (spending less) to help break the cycle of poverty and crime. Predicting a generation¹s future crime pattern is, of course, risky. Especially when outside factors remain unpredictable (Wil ....